The destruction of the two death stars would have cost a total of $512 quintillion, according to the tongue-in-cheek paper by Zachary Feinstein, assistant professor of electrical and systems engineering at Washington University's School of Engineering & Applied Science in St. Louis. The paper is titled, “It's a Trap: Emperor Palpatine's Poison Pill.”

For those used to dealing with mere billions, a quintillion has been defined as “1” followed by 18 zeroes.

Mr. Feinstein's data is based in part on the cost of the USS Gerald Ford, which was a pittance at $17.5 billion.

The paper also evaluates the death stars' destruction on the “Intergalactic Banking Clan” which it says is “known to be 'too big to fail' as it was nationalized following the Clone Wars to avoid a default on its debt,” according to the “Wookiepedia”.

The paper concludes the Rebel Alliance “would need to prepare a bailout of at least 15% and likely at least 20%, of (Gross Galactic Product) in order to mitigate the systemic risks and the sudden and catastrophic economic collapse” caused by the death stars' destruction.

All that should give Star Wars fans something to chew on while they eagerly await the Dec. 18 release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.